Stringer tape for slide fasteners



March 19, 1946.

.D Ti/jl.

L CAMPBELL STRINGER TAPE FOR SLIDE FASTENERS Original Filed 1390.22,1943 1 -1 .2. D EIE,

m wmm INVENTOR Zee Cam ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 19, 1946 STRINGER TAPE FORSLIDE FASTENERS I Lee Campbell, Hackensack, N. J.

Original application December 22, 1943, Serial -No. 515,256. Divided andthis application May 8, 1945, Serial No. 592,654

2 Claims.

lengths of textile material which are woven,

braided or otherwise produced and each of which tapes has one edgeportion of greater thicknessv than the main body of the tape, saidthicker edge portion being variously produced either byweaving or byapplying and securing thereto a cord, bead or other equivalent edging soas to afford the necessary thickness for the proper attachment of theinterlocking metallic elements of the fastener to the tape. Heretofore,it has been the usual practice to produce the pairs of stringer tapes asseparate or individual lengths of strip material which is dyed and toone edge of which the edging is secured by a form of chain stitchingafter which the interlocking metallic fastener elements are applied, thestrips being then cut into the desired lengths and the lengths of stripsassembled together with the slide member to produce the finished slidefastener device.

In contradistinction to this mode of production, the present inventioncomprehends the production of woven strip material for slide fastenerstringer tapes which embodies the weaving of said strip in a novelmanner so that the same is of such a width as to make provision for apair of stringer tape defining areas lying side-by-side in closelyspaced relation joined by longitudinally spaced groups of weft orfilling threads. In this manner of weaving the strip, the remote oroutermost edges of the tapes have a full selvage edge while the innerconnected edges are only partially selvaged. The wovenstrip of materialthus produced is then dyed and subsequently fed through a suitabledouble needle sewing machine for applying and securing the bead formingedging simultaneously to the inner edges of the stringer tape definingareas which are severed or cut apart either as they approach the needlesor after they. leave the machine. Obviously when the edging is thusapplied it serves as a binding for the'partially selvaged inner edgeswhile providing a pair of matched stringer tapes which are identical asto color and shade.

From the foregoing it is apparent that in addition to producing stringertapes for slide fasteners which match exactly as to color and shade,

as increase in production is attained both in the weaving of the tapeand in the application of the beaded edging thereto.

With the above recited and other objects in view, the invention issetforth in greater detail in the following specification, particularlypointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of a woven strip of materialfrom which stringer tapes are produced.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the manner of applyingthe edging to a strip of stringer tape forming material woven inaccordance with the invention.

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating a modification of themanner inwhich the edging is applied to the strip.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the severing and applying ofthe interengageable fastener elements to the stringer tape formingstrip.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross-sectionalview through thestringer tape forming strip with the edging stitched thereto.-

Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating a stringer tape forming striphaving a woven edging showing a modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawing and particularly to the strip of woven textilefabric A diagrammatically shown in Fig. l with the threads thereofspaced apart for the sake'of clearness, the said strip includeslongitudinally extending warp threads designated generally by thereference characters B and a weft or filling thread C, the leads ofwhich extend transversely of and are interwoven with the warp threads B.As shown, the warp threads B are arranged as a pair of coextensivegroups D and E whichare slightly spaced apart laterally of the strip soas to pro. vide a space Ill throughout the length of the strip at thecenter thereof and which space is defined between the innermost warpthreads H of the groups D and E, the outer edges of the strip A beingbounded by the outermost marginal threads l2, between. which lie theintermediate threads l3 of each group. v

In weaving the strip A, the weft thread 0 is shot completely across thewarp, around the outermost warp threads 12 and back thereacross apredetermined number of times, three shots having been taken as shownbyway of illustration, although it is to be understood that any desirednumber may be utilized within the scope of the invention. After theselected number of threads have'been laid, the weft thread C is thenshot partially-across the warp from the outermost thread I: of one groupD and around the innermost adjacent warp thread it or the innermostthread of said group D, the weft thread lead being thenbrought back andaround the outermost warp thread I: of the group D. The weft thread isthen shot completely across the warp and around the outermost thread I:of the other group B, thence back and completely across all of the warpthreads and around the outermost warp thread l2 of group D and then backand around the outermost warp thread It of group E. The next shot of theweft thread C is carried only partially across the warp to and aroundthe innermost warp thread ll of group E thence back to thewarp thread Hof group E, thus completing a weaving cycle which is repeate throughoutthe length of the strip,

The strip of textile fabric A thus produced, includes a pair oflongitudinally extending groups of warp threads D and E which are spacedapart laterally at the center of the strip with a weft thread which isso interwoven with the warp threads as to provide groups of leads Fwhich extend completely across all of the warp threads and across thespace l0 and around the outermost or marginal warp threads i2 at theopposite sides of the strip, thus providing the strip with completelysalvaged outer edges. This, combined with the weft'thread leads Gextending only partially across the width of the strip A alternatelyfrom the opposite side edges thereof, provides a woven strip of materialhaving a pair of slide fastener stringer tape defining areas lying inside-by-side closely spaced relation joined by the longitudinally spacedgroups of weft thread leads F which are adapted to be subsequentlysevered to provide a pair of mating stringer tapes. The strip A, thusproduced, is designed to be dyed so that the mating stringer tapedefining areas will match exactly as to color and shade.

The manner of utilizing the strip thus produced for the manufacture ofslide fastener stringer tapes and the ultimate production of slidefasteners may vary but several preferred methods are disclosed herein,one of which consists in first dyeing the strip, then severing the sameas it is fed into a. double needle sewing machine which applies andsecures bead forming edgings H to the inner edges of the stringer tapedefining areas of the strip A. In lieu of severing the groups ofconnecting weft thread leads F as the It is also proposed to apply theundyed bead forming edging H to the undyed strip A by running the samethrough a double needle sewing machine and then dyeing the assemblage sothat thestrip and its beaded edging match perfectly as to color andshade. In this instance, the strip A is not longitudinally severed untilthe time it is fed into the machine for applying the fastener elementsthereto, thus insuring slide -i'astenin devices provided with stringertapes which are perfectly matched as to color and shade.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, the strip A woven in accordancewiththe invention as shown in Fig. 1, is fed through a double needlesewing machine together with the edging H. As illustrated in full linesa rotary cutter J severs the connecting weft threads the machine and theneedles K and L stitch the edging H to the inner edges of the tapedefining areas D and E by lines of stitching M. It is of course apparentthat in lieu of severing the connecting weft threads F as the stripenters the machine, said connecting weft threads may be severed afterthe stitching of the edging thereto and as the strip is fed from themachine, the rotary cutter being shown in broken lines by the referencecharacter N.

As an alternate way in which slide fastener may be produced from thestrip A, the same may be strip A is fed into or enters the sewingmachine,

, previously dyed and is matched as closely as possible with the strip Awith reference to the color and shade thereof. It should be here notedthat the bead forming edging H which is preferably applied and securedto the inner edges of the stringer tape defining areas constitutes ameans for binding said edges which are only partially selvaged, therebyprecluding the tendency of said edges to ravel.

Obviously after thebeaded edging H has been applied and the strip Asevered into a pair of mating stringer tapes, the pair should be kepttogether until the interlocking fastener elements are applied, the tapescut into lengths and the slides associated therewith to produce thefinished slide fasteners.

fed to the sewing machine as illustrated in Fig. 3 of thedrawinatogether with the edging H, the strip A and the edging beingundyed. The undyed strip A together with the undyed edging are then dyedsimultaneously to obtain a perfect match and the assemblage is then fedthrough a machine P for applying the interengageable metallic fasteningelements Q, to the tape defining areas D and E, it being understood thatthe groups of connecting weft threads F will be severed by a rotarycutter R as the strip enters the machine P.

What is claimed is:

1. A strip of woven textile fabric adapted to be longitudinally severedat the transverse center thereof to provide a pair of mating slidefastener stringer tapes, said strip being so woven as to define a pairof stringer tape forming areas lying in side-by-side closely spacedrelation joined together by longitudinally spaced groups of weft threadleads which extend completely across the strip, an elongated stripextending longitudinally along the inner edge of each tape forming areadefining an edging and means continuously securing said strips to saidtape forming areas forming bindings therefor when the tape forming areasare separated.

2. A strip of textile fabric adapted to be longitudinally severed atthetransverse center thereof to provide a pair of mating slide fastenerstringer tapes, said strip being so woven asto provide a pair ofstringer tape defining areas disposed in side-by-side closely spacedrelation," joined by longitudinally spaced groups of weft thread leadswhich extend completely across the strip in bridging relation to thespacing therebetween and having fully selvaged outer edges and partiallyselvaged inner edges, an elongated strip extending longitudinally alongthe inner edge of each tape forming ar'ea defining an edging and meanscontinuously securing said strips to said tape forming areas formingbindings therefor when the tape forming areas are separated.

LEE CAMPBELL.

F as the strip enters.

